A Social History of Psychology - Softcover

"Finally, for those teachers of history of psychology willing to assign a challenging text and supplement it with primary and secondary sources, a multi-authored textbook has arrived that they can be proud of...one must salute the writers of this path-breaking new history...hopefully it will find widespread adoption in the classroom." William R. Woodward, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences "By emphasising that psychology is above all a practical discipline, rooted in real-world crises and dilemmas rather than simply theoretical ones, this erudite yet approachable book casts a difference light on its history." Times Literary Supplement "Much of the pedagogical literature on the history of psychology that is available today has not been informed by recent scholarly research and is almost a culture unto itself. This textbook can help to bring the two cultures in the history of psychology closer together. It thus represents a valuable contribution to the literature of the field." Adrian Brock, University College Dublin "The history of psychology has for too long focused on academic developments while failing to see the importance of the gradual dissemination and infiltration of the psychological into every day life. This accessible volume provides an important corrective by demonstrating that the social history of psychology in Europe and North America is not only worthy of investigation but can make us reconsider the entire history of the discipline from the bottom up." Hank Stam, University of Calgary "Reading A Social History of Psychology was a great pleasure. It's an up-to-date textbook with two interacting themes - Jansz and van Drunen describe the development of psychology in the broader context of American and European societies, and they delineate the history of psychology as a practical science. The book is informative, well written, nicely illustrated and clearly recommendable to anyone interested in the history of our field." Helmut E. Luck, FernUniversitat, Hagen, Germany

A Social History of Psychology documents the rise of psychology in the 20th century and its growing influence on Western society. The book focuses on practical, or 'applied', psychology and examines the causes and social consequences of psychology's omnipresence in our society. * Documents the rise of psychology in the 20th century and its growing influence on Western society* Contains contributions that focus on psychology as a social enterprise, written by researchers with extensive experience teaching the history of psychology* Focuses on practical psychology rather than academic theory and provides a detailed account of the development of various branches of professional psychology* Provides a clear and insightful historical background for understanding contemporary developments within applied psychology